Protohistoric Yamato: Archaeology of the First Japanese State

Description

Nara is located in the center of what is known today as the Kinai region of Japan. The ancient name for the region was the Go-Kinai ("five-within the royal domain"), referring to the five provinces of which it was composed: Settsu, Kawachi, Izumi, Yamato and Yamashiro. The name Yamato, presented above variously as a provincial unit (corresponding to the present-day Nara Prefecture), or geographical unit (the Nara Basin only), is also sometimes expanded and applied on a regional scale to mean the Kinai region. This is particularly true in scholarship dealing with the fifth and sixth centuries when Yamato was in ascendance. Therefore, the Nara Basin and its archeology are the keys to unlocking the mysteries of the emergence of Japanese civilization and the early state in Japan. These mysteries are entailed in the earliest recorded history of Japan--references to Japanese island "countries" and "queens" in the Chinese dynastic histories of the third to fifth centuries A.D., and references to "kings" and "emperors" in two late fifth- to early sixth-century sword inscriptions and in the extant chronicles of Japan compiled in the early eighth century. Contents List of Figures List of Tables List 0f Appendixes Preface Note Introduction. Protohistoric Japan: Formation of the State Western vs. Eastern Seto The Mounded Tomb Culture The Development of Yamato Authority The Horserider Theory of Stare Formation The Emergence of the Yamato State Scope of Study Part 1. Paddy Field Archaeology Introduction to Part 1 Chapter 1. Research Setting: The Nara Basin Nara Basin Geography A History of Nara Archaeology Chapter 2. The Nature of the Archaeological Record Four Kinds of Archaeological Data Site Definition and Identification An Indexing System for Site Comparability Excavated Feature Data Chapter 3. Surface Sites and Their Representativeness Introduction Surface Sites and Survey Interpretation Factors of Landscape Modification Site Representativeness Conclusions to Part 1 Part 2. Nara Basin Settlement Introduction to Part 2 Chapter 4. Territorial Organization in the Nara Basin Introduction Structural Elements of Early Historic Settlement Patterning Later Yayoi Communities Mounded Tomb Territories Summary Chapter 5. Settlement and Status in Early Stratified Society Introduction General Settlement Patterning Social Differentiation in Architectural Features Elite and Commoner Subcultures Summary Chapter 6. Emergence of the Yamato State The Kawachi Court Period The Localization of Production The Emergence of Clan Society and State Administration Administration and the Legitimization of Power Formation of the Yamato State Conclusions to Part 2 Glossary Bibliography Appendixes